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Everyone’s Talking About
018 DRONE RULES ARE CHANGING, BUT WILL THEY WORK FOR YOU?
020 REA: TECHNOLOGY AND TEAMWORK
022 WHAT REALLY HELPS YOU TO EARN MORE?
024 I S THE SOCIAL WORLD GETTING CLOSER TO THE LISTINGS WORLD?

First Person
026 FEE FALLING Josh Phegan

42

028 W
OULD YOU HIRE A CHEF WITHOUT TASTING THEIR FOOD?
Julie Davis and Neil Williams
030 TECHNOLOGY, BUT NOT FOR TECHNOLOGY’S SAKE Ian Campbell

Cover Story
042 THE NOW GENERATION Ouwens Casserly

Elite Agent
046 THE NEW REAL ESTATE BUSINESS MODEL Kylie Davis
048 DIGITAL INNOVATION AND THE ART OF STORYTELLING Steve Mallach
052 RENOVATION RULES Amanda Gould
054 DO THE WORK AND LOVE YOUR TODAY Susanne King

JOHN KNIGHT BUSINESS DEPOT 7 things top
principals are doing to achieve great results

28

Where are yo​u from originally and where do
you call home now?
I grew up in a little country town called
Millmerran in South West Queensland [one
hour south-west of Toowoomba] – don’t blink
or you’ll miss it. Millmerran is best known for
coal, a power station, lots of farming and the
camp oven festival. Brisbane is now home for
my family and me.
Who or what inspires you at the moment?
I am inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the
business owners we deal with every day, but
a book which really resonates with me at the
moment is The End of Jobs by Taylor Pearson.
Trend to watch in the industry?
Offshoring is quickly becoming one of the top topics of discussion in the industry. I
am interested to see when this works, when this doesn’t and how it intersects with
improvements in technology.

38

CONTRIBUTORS
52
JULIE DAVIS AND NEIL WILLIAMS
AGENT DYNAMICS Would you hire a
chef without tasting their food?
Who or what inspires you at the moment?
Neil: Len Beadell, land surveyor and the
last, true Australian explorer. He always
inspires me!
Julie: Neale Daniher for his efforts in
raising funds and awareness of Motor
Neurone Disease.
What is the most important project you
are working on right now?
Neil: Developing employment advertising
copy to attract candidates based on their
innate talent or profile type.
Julie: A leadership program exclusively for
our clients.
Trend to watch in the industry?
Neil: The smarter agents focusing on
humility rather than ego.
Julie: It will be the agents who have a real
point of difference that they can prove
who will excel in the industry.
Favourite quote or words to live by?
Neil: “Don’t look down on those who look
up to you” – Muhammad Ali.
Julie: “Our doubts are traitors, that
make us lose the good we oft might
win, by fearing to attempt” – William
Shakespeare.

AMANDA GOULD HIGHSPEC
PROPERTIES Renovation rules: top 7
tips and trends for 2016
Who or what inspires you at the
moment?
I am inspired by fellow entrepreneurs
that are smashing it! It pushes me
forward.
What is the most important project you
are working on right now?
An off-market DA approved, 121 unit
development site in the North West
corridor.
Trend to watch in the industry?
As property prices increase, I have
noticed a rise in syndicate buying where
there are four or more purchasers.
Favourite quote or words to live by?
If you change the way you kook at
things, the things you look at change!

SUSANNE KING PEAK
PERFORMANCE COACH, AGENT
REPUBLIC Do the work and love
your today
Where are you from originally and
where do you call home now?
I am from a little place in the central
west. Sydney is home, Manhattan
Beach is my heart’s home.
What is the most important project you
are working on right now?
Agent Republic.
Trend to watch in the industry?
Reality TV is where it’s headed. To do
that and keep your heart in a place of
service is key.
Favourite quote or words to live by?
You get who you are, not just what you
do!

54

eliteagent.com.au 9

A
EDITOR’S LETTER
A QUESTION I HAVE been asked

a lot lately is about change and
whether accelerated change
is really possible. It stands
to reason: it’s the topic I’ll be
speaking on at ARPM 16 and
something that is topical given
the process that our sales
‘Transformers’ went through.
Now it will be a similar journey
for our property management
Transform teams as well.
The answer is yes. But only
given certain conditions.
Everyone is capable of change,
whether it’s the slow, ‘one foot
in front of the other’ kind of
change or the extreme makeover
experience that we give people in
Transform. But it’s only possible
if you’re open to it. I think it
was Tony Robbins who said
“Change happens when the pain
of staying the same is greater
than the pain of change.” And
when you think about it, that is a
pretty true statement; whether
it’s your business (an employee
who is not working out) or
something personal (lose weight,
get fit) the status quo is easier
than doing things differently.
One of the biggest lessons in
sales Transform, and certainly
one of the big lessons for me in
our business, came up in Josh
Phegan’s session where he talked
about potential and capacity.
If you feel you are at, say,
50 per cent of your potential
but you’re at 100 per cent of
your capacity (that is, you can’t
physically fit any more into the
day), then you are never going
to get to your true potential
unless you look at your capacity.
Don’t look at capacity as simply
your people, but look at yourself,
your health, making more of the

10 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

hours you have in the day. Then
look at the people and processes
around you and see where you
can increase those. Do you need
to take some of the load off? (In
real estate this is usually getting
an assistant.) Or is something
better served by a process that is
repeatable – meaning it may take
a bit of time to set up but then is
easier to outsource.
Now let’s come back to
Transform. Transform was fun
and everyone learned an amazing
amount, but the tough schedule
to fit all of that learning into
such a short period of time is
something that is definitely not
for the fainthearted! I think all of
our Super Six found that fitting
that extra hour or two into their
week was a challenge, given that
time management for agents
is something of a challenge
anyway. And I think it does prove
once and for all something that
John McGrath always says: What
got you here won’t get you there.
We also learned that as a
business we too had to increase
our capacity remarkably as we
started producing more content
than ever before and had more
people ‘following’ us than we’d
ever experienced. Working 25
hours a day is never a solution;
the only transformation that’s
going to happen if you go down
that path is not a positive one!
So I think the big lesson is this:
if you are going to change, if
you are going to transform, you
have to first be ready for the
fact that you’re going to need to
increase your capacity from day 1;
something that our PM/Principal
Transform teams will discover
when they start their journey on
August 7. We can’t wait to see

how they take on the lessons
from the experts to implement
in their lives and businesses and,
hopefully, put them on the road
to where they want to be.
Part of Transform (for us)
was determining whether the
lessons everyone teaches in real

One of the
biggest lessons
in Transform, and
certainly one of
the big lessons for
me in our business,
came up in Josh
Phegan’s session
where he talked
about potential
and capacity.

Catch up with all of the action from
AREC 2016 with our “On the Couch”
series eliteagent.com.au/onthecouch

estate apply to all markets and
all types of agents, and that
was why the Super Six feedback
was so important. They were all
from different regions, different
markets so it was interesting
to see how they applied the
same lessons, and yes the same
lessons did kind of work!
In addition to that, I worked
with Claudio Encina and Jet
Xavier to design a survey to see
if there was a pattern among the
‘elite’ in personal success factors
such as sleep, TV, prospecting
habits and more, and whether
they had an impact on GCI. We
surveyed around 200 agents;
you’ll see the results on page 22.
While the survey wasn’t perfect
(there are a lot more questions
that could be asked!), it does
show some interesting trends
about how your capacity affects
your income.
Seeing these stats I think you

can safely assume these lessons
are relevant to everyone, even
if your market is different. The
real battle, as I have witnessed,
is the ability to ‘JFDI’. As Jet
Xavier often says, “There is not a
single person in the industry who
doesn’t know how to pick up a
phone and dial a phone number.
So that’s not the reason people
don’t do it. It’s a mindset issue,
not a skillset issue.”
So if you want to change,
to transform… look at your
potential, your capacity, and yep,
you know the rest!
Follow PM transform @
eliteagent.com.au/transform

eliteagent.com.au 11

READER
PROFILE

LIVING THE DREAM
Two years ago Christine Henderson
gave up a job in executive management
to switch to real estate and is now a
property consultant at Hodges Mentone.
A lifelong resident of beautiful Bayside,
Melbourne, she has high ambitions,
takes the trouble to write handwritten
notes to clients – and somehow finds
time to be a single mum too.
How did you get started and
how long have you been in
real estate?
I started in real estate just over
two years ago; I had always had
a passion, not only for property
but for the local area. Previously
I had worked for Tupperware
as an executive manager, but
I wanted a job where I could
spend more time with my
girls and have a better work/
life balance – and not be out
every night of the week! I am
extremely passionate about
where I live and have been a
lifelong resident of Bayside,
Melbourne. I find it easy to

sell not only a home but the
incredible lifestyle on offer.
What have been your biggest
challenges so far?
My biggest challenge has been
my limiting belief in myself.
It’s all in my mind! I know I am
capable of anything and I have
huge goals.
Who or what inspires you?
I’m constantly inspired by the
dynamic team here at Hodges,
plus our two amazing and
supportive directors. The whole
team has a high work ethic and
it motivates you to be your best.

“It was such a thrill meeting the
Altman brothers. They were such
gentlemen and so complimentary.”
In your briefcase right now is…
My ‘to-do’ lists, fineliners,
highlighters and copious
amounts of bulldog clips; my
laptop and notecards (I love
handwritten notes) and my
copy of Think and Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill.

grateful to Elite Agent Magazine.
I also loved their presentation
– it was a good reminder that
no matter your goal you should
never lose sight of it. Work, live
and breathe it, and anything
is possible. They had huge
setbacks but never gave up.

Something you couldn’t
live without?
My iPhone and my Lucy dog
– always happy to see me no
matter the hour.

What advice would you give to
your younger self, or someone
just starting out in real estate?
Prospect, prospect, prospect.
Every day! Door-knock and
make sure everyone knows who
you are, and listen. Also never
stop learning and evolving your
business. Be topical, not typical;
be genuine and be yourself. I
just wish I had started in the
industry sooner!

What do you most enjoy about
Elite Agent Magazine?
I like learning what other agents
are doing, and taking ideas and
implementing them to be my
own. Plus I love reading about
trends in the industry.
What was it like meeting the
Altman brothers?
It was such a thrill. They
were such gentlemen and so
complimentary. Going to the
private cocktail party was a
highlight of my year and I am so

12 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

Words to live by?
“I’m too busy working on my
own grass to notice if yours
is greener.” Stay focused,
tune out the noise around
you and make it happen!
And “Love the life you live,
live the life you love.”

UPFRONT

@ANDRE ABONNE

R_

LEARN FROM THE BEST – VISIT ELITEAGENT.COM.AU

Snap and
Share:

@S TE VE ANDT

ON YMCGRATH

VitrineMedia continues
to lead in shopfront
innovation
VitrineMedia, a world leader in LED display
technology dedicated to window solutions, has now
brought even more light with less energy output to
the real estate industry.
In the last 12 months they have designed several
new LED display panels to add to their collection to
make the real estate shopfront really stand out.
Speaking at AREC 2016, Global CTO Benjamin
Champagne said, “This year we have been proud
to showcase our new products which have been
developed and refined over the past 12 months. We
have new wall mounted products that take care of
the interior space as well as the traditional window
displays which can really lift the office.”
Australian Managing Director Mike Toweel said,
“The thing that absolutely blows people away when
they look at it, is the simplicity of use. It’s all print
media, so it’s transparency film that you print on with
a laserjet or inkjet printer at your own office.”
With dual illumination VitrineMedia displays are the
brightest and slimmest in the market, claiming twice
the brightness, yet only half the power consumption.
“We’ve got some really innovative products now
in interior visual marketing,” continued Toweel, “The
new banners are brighter and we’ve gone up twenty
per cent on where we were this time last year. We’ve
got more efficient fittings, more efficient rails. You
actually get a reduction in power consumption. So the
solution is not only beautiful, but environmentally
friendly as well.”
And the environment is an area where VitrineMedia
intends to maintain their leadership position in
innovation. “As always the common point for
everything is modularity,” says Champagne.
“Ninety-eight per cent of the product can be
recycled. It’s very important for us on the production
side and we are launching a new department at
VitrineMedia, to continue to develop our techniques.”
“There’s a lot of things happening overseas, new
and exciting things,” continues Toweel. “It’s hard to
believe that it also gets better than this, so I guess
just watch the space!”
For more information visit VitrineMedia.com.au.
14 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

BizCover –
saving you time
and money on
your insurance
In the world of real estate, trading
without Professional Indemnity
Insurance is equivalent to a
surgeon practising without Medical
Indemnity Insurance.
Although you’re not performing
brain surgery, real estate is a
complex industry, and as an estate
agent you’re open to litigation
involving breach of contract,
allegations of misrepresentation,
poor property management and a
breach of statutory provisions - to
name but a few.
Whether you specialise in
residential or commercial property,
work in a company or act as a sole
trader, having appropriate insurance
provides essential financial protection
against potential losses arising
out of acts, errors and omissions
for the professional services you
provide. Finding the right insurance,
however, can be a time-consuming
and complex process, often involving
insurance brokers who can take days

Congratulations to our #Hampersand
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You have won a Hampersand
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including luxurious gifts you can
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to get back to you.
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sorted, offering you the right cover at
the right price without the hassle of
going back and forth with a broker. As
Australia’s No. 1 business insurance
service, they have simplified the
process of purchasing insurance for
real estate agents. You can compare
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a policy from some of Australia’s
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so you can focus on what’s really
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They’ll help you with all of
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To find out more visit bizcover.
com.au or call 1800 816 471.

Domain launches
Social Boost
Last month Domain announced a new product offering,
Social Boost, that helps agents increase reach, exposure
and interest for property listings through targeted ads
on Facebook.
The new solution, available for Premium Plus
advertisers, is said to amplify agents’ exposure and reach
a more targeted audience to help sell properties faster.
Morton Real Estate is one of the first groups in
Australia to use Social Boost and has already achieved
strong results.
Sarah Fowl, Morton Real Estate’s Marketing Manager,
commented:
“Having Social Boost on our listing has really helped us
increase exposure, resulting in more inbound enquiries to
our property.”
Domain’s Social Boost will showcase an agent listing as
a Domain sponsored post on Facebook, and is currently
available to agents in NSW, QLD metro, VIC Metro, WA
Metro and will be rolled out to the rest of Australia later
this year.

Domain’s approach to targeting buyers in Social Boost
is based on current search insights. A GfK Home Buyer
Research Report (2015) found that 58% of buyers are
looking to move within 5km of their current address and
91% are looking to move within 40km of their current
address, so Social Boost is designed to target both local
and active buyers on Facebook in and around the location
of the property. Domain search insights also allows
targeting of buyers who have recently searched on the
Domain website for properties in and around the location
of the property being advertised.
Social Boost reporting provides results on a whole host
of metrics, including, 'engagement', 'views', 'enquiries'
and 'Saves and Shares'. Every listing has an associated
listing report accessible through Domain Agent Admin.
Currently, the cost per Social Boost is: $750 + GST – for
Melbourne Metro and Sydney Metro or $495 + GST – for
NSW (except Sydney Metro), Brisbane, Adelaide and
Western Australia (prices are based on Zones as defined
by Domain).
For more information contact your account manager or
visit domain.com.au/group/agent-centre/social-boost.

12 CPD POINTS*
FOR NSW AGENTS
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solidly in the June quarter after
a weak showing in the previous
three months. However, threat
of oversupply is casting a dark
shadow on the market’s growth
prospects for the next 12 months.
Nila Sweeney, Managing Editor of
Property Market Insider, explains.
Just when you thought Sydney had run out
of steam, prices rebounded strongly over the
June quarter, taking the lead once again.
The latest statistics from CoreLogic RP
Data showed that the median dwelling
price in Sydney surged by 6.8 per cent to
$780,000 over the three months ending
June, amid renewed interest from investors.
Melbourne also staged a strong showing,
gaining by 3.5 per cent during the same
period. The combined strong performance
by Australia’s biggest cities lifted the
Hedonic Home Value Index to a new record,
according to Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s Asia
Pacific research director. “The June results
continued to show a rebound in the housing
market conditions after weaker results for
the final quarter in 2015,” he says.
Andrew Wilson, chief economist with
Domain, shares similar findings and adds

that Sydney is set to continue to track solid
price growth, albeit at a slower pace. “More
investors are returning to the market after
some jittery months towards the end of last
year. The spectre of the change in negative
gearing got the speculative juices flowing
again for investors and we’ve seen a bounce
back in activity.”

HOBART SURGES
Following closely behind Sydney and
Melbourne is Hobart, where the median
house price jumped by 8.5 per cent to
$360,500 over the past 12 months,
according to CoreLogic RP Data. Unlike other
capital cities where rental yields are falling
as prices rise, Hobart manages to still enjoy
healthy rental returns amid growing prices.
“The strength in the Hobart market comes
after a long period of under-performance,

CAPITAL CITY PERFORMANCE
Region

Month

Quarter

Year on year

Median
dwelling price

Sydney

1.2%

6.8%

11.3%

$780,000

Melbourne

0.8%

3.5%

11.5%

$587,000

Brisbane

-0.1%

2.2%

5.3%

$475,000

Adelaide

-1.3%

0.8%

2.2%

$420,000

Perth

-0.2%

-0.8%

-3%

$505,000

Hobart

1.8%

1.9%

6.2%

$341,000

Darwin

-1.6%

-2.5%

-1.1%

$510,000

Canberra

-1.1%

2.6%

3.9%

$560,000

Combined capitals

0.5%

3.8%

8.3%

$580,000

Source: CoreLogic RP Data June 2016

16 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

where home values in the city increased by
only 1.4 per cent per annum over the past
10 years,” says Lawless. “Potentially, the
Hobart housing market is being fuelled
by the sheer affordability of housing and
a renewed trend towards Melbourne and
Sydney buyers unlocking their equity to
make lifestyle housing purchases.”
Not surprisingly, Angie Zigomanis,
senior analyst with BIS Shrapnel, also sees
potential in Tasmania’s biggest city.
“Interstate migration is starting to come
through again, and those who have left the
state in search of jobs elsewhere are also
returning,” he says. “There might also be
some expats that are now moving back to
Hobart, thanks to its idyllic environment
which is conducive for raising a family.”

BRISBANE SET TO REPLACE SYDNEY
AND MELBOURNE AS GROWTH ENGINE
While Brisbane didn’t put on a breakout
performance, it’s steady and set to gain
momentum over the next 12 months,
according to Shane Oliver, chief economist
with AMP Capital. The current growth in
prices is mostly supported by the activity in
the lower-priced regions, which have been
flat for a couple of years.
“I think Brisbane has the most promise
in terms of growth going forward,” says

With regard to the lower rate of
population growth, Zigomanis says:
“National population growth in 2014-15 was
at its second lowest level since 2005-06,
with net overseas migration falling from
229,400 persons in 2011-12 to 176,500
persons in 2014-15 – although there have
been wide variations across the states.
Nevertheless, with the majority of net
overseas migration classified as ‘long-term
overseas visitors’ – that is, temporary but
not permanent arrivals – this reduction is
likely to be impacting most on the rental,
and therefore apartment, sector.”

“In most markets,
particularly in Melbourne
and Brisbane where
it’s not just a high level
of supply but also
concentrated into the
inner city areas, you have
to compete with a lot of
landlords for tenants.”
Oliver. “There hasn’t been a lot of growth in
Brisbane over the past few years. It should
accelerate this year. It should pick up as
it reaps the benefit of a lower Australian
dollar, which outweighs the negative impact
of the end of mining. I think it will overtake
Sydney and Melbourne in terms of growth.”

NO UPSIDE ON THE HORIZON FOR
PERTH AND DARWIN
Perth continues to under-perform despite
earlier signs that the market might be
bottoming out, according to Wilson.
“Even though I saw what I thought were
signs of the market bottoming out towards
the end of last year and early this year, that
market shakeout is still continuing,” says
Wilson. “There are no signs of bottoming
out in the Perth market at the moment. Our
rent report shows there’s another increase
in the vacancy rate in the Perth market,
where houses now have 4.2 per cent
vacancy rate and units 4.8 per cent.”
Wilson points out that the significant
correction in the Perth market is now being
felt on both price and rent. “Both areas are
suffering from the oversupply of rental
property. It’s a really bleak environment for
investors at the moment, not just to find a
tenant but also to find a buyer to move out
of the market,” he says.

Perth dwelling values dropped over the
first six months of this year by 3.9 per cent,
making them 7.4 per cent lower than the
high of December 2014.

THREAT OF OVERSUPPLY LOOMS
While residential prices are forecast to
remain relatively stable in the next 12
months, rising supply and weakening
investor demand will see some markets
suffer, according to Zigomanis.
“We’re moving away from undersupply
into an oversupply situation over the next
12 months, broadly speaking,” he says.
“A record number of new constructions
are taking place and apartments being
constructed. A lot of those apartments
are also locked in for the next two years.
There’s no immediate way to absorb them,
particularly given that overseas migration
and population growth in general are now
lower than they’ve been in recent years.”
In fact, nearly all capital cities are
building apartments at record rates
on the back of the recent strength in
investor demand, according to Zigomanis.
“As these projects are progressively
completed, it is likely that there will not
be enough tenants in a number of cities
to support rents and consequently values
upon completion.”

On a national level, BIS Shrapnel expects
a record 220,000 new dwellings will have
been commenced in 2015-16, and this
will translate to a peak in new dwelling
completions in 2016-17. Once they reach
completion, all states except New South
Wales will be dealing with a situation of
oversupply.
“Perhaps in Sydney it’s not so much
of an issue, but in most other markets,
particularly in Melbourne and Brisbane
where it’s not just high level of supply but
also concentrated into the inner city areas,
you have to compete with a lot of landlords
for tenants,” says Zigomanis.
Although he expects interest rates to
remain low, and even potentially to fall
further, the adverse demand/supply balance
is likely to dampen price growth, with
median house and unit prices in all capital
city markets expected to be lower in real
terms by 2019.

Nila Sweeney is the Managing Editor
of Property Market Insider. Formerly the
Managing Editor of Your Investment
Property and Your Mortgage magazines,
Nila has more than 10 years’ experience
writing about Australia’s property
market. For more information, visit
propertymarketinsider.com.au.

eliteagent.com.au 17

EVERYONE'S
TALKING
ABOUT…

DRONE RULES ARE
CHANGING, BUT WILL
THEY WORK FOR YOU?
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO shot with drones has

become relatively common in real estate marketing.
Important changes to the safety regulations covering
their use take effect in just under two months.
From 29 September 2016 there will be
a new category of commercial remotely
piloted aircraft operations. People
operating drones with a maximum takeoff weight of less than two kilograms will
no longer be required to gain a certificate
and licence from CASA.
Operators will only have to provide one
online notification to CASA well in advance
of their first commercial flight and operate
by a set of standard operating conditions.
This change cuts red tape and costs to
people operating very small commercial
drones. They will not need to get a
remotely piloted aircraft operator’s

18 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

certificate (ReOC) or a remote pilot licence
(RePL) from CASA.
The change has been made in response
to research on the safety risks of remotely
piloted aircraft that found very small
drones posed a lower level of risk to
people, property and aircraft.
CASA’s Director of Aviation Safety,
Mark Skidmore, said the changes to the
remotely piloted aircraft regulations
maintain appropriate safety standards
while cutting red tape.
“While safety must always come first,
CASA’s aim is to lighten the regulatory
requirements where we can.

“The amended regulations recognise the
different safety risks posed by different
types of remotely piloted aircraft.
“People intending to use the new very
small category of commercial operations
should understand this can only be done
if the standard operating conditions are
strictly followed and CASA is notified.
“Penalties can apply if these conditions
are not met.”
Anyone intending to fly a very small
remotely piloted aircraft in commercial
operations must always adhere to the
standard operating conditions. These are:
• You must only fly during the day and
keep your remotely piloted aircraft within
visual line of sight
• You must not fly your remotely piloted
aircraft higher than 120 metres above
ground level
• You must keep your remotely piloted
aircraft at least 30 metres away from
other people

• You must keep your remotely piloted
aircraft at least 5.5km away from
controlled aerodromes – these are the
capital city airports and some regional
airports – and clear of the flight paths at all
other aerodromes and aircraft landing sites
• You must not fly your remotely piloted
aircraft over any populous areas – this
can include beaches, parks and sporting
ovals where there are crowds or groups
of people
• You must not fly your remotely piloted
aircraft over or near an area where it
might affect public safety or where
emergency operations are underway –
this could include situations such as a
car crash, police operations, a fire and
associated firefighting efforts, and
search and rescue

This change cuts red
tape and costs to people
operating very small
commercial drones.

• You can only fly one remotely piloted
aircraft at a time.
Importantly, a remotely piloted aircraft
must not be flown in a way that creates a
hazard to other aircraft, people or property.
Autonomous flights are also prohibited
as CASA is still developing suitable
regulations for these operations.
The standard operating conditions may
still mean that drones cannot be used for
commercial purposes – such as real estate
photography – in many areas of major
cities and towns.
This could be due to being within 5.5
kilometres of a controlled airport, the need
to stay more than 30 metres away from
other people or the requirement not to
create a hazard to people or property.
There are no exceptions or exemptions to
the standard operating conditions and they
apply at all times.
Anyone needing to operate a remotely
piloted aircraft outside of the standard
operating conditions – for example within
5.5km of a controlled aerodrome – will
need to obtain a remotely piloted aircraft
operator’s certificate and a remote

pilot licence from CASA and then gain
additional approvals.
There are more than 600 approved
remotely piloted aircraft operators
across Australia, with most providing
aerial photography services, with a list of
approved providers being available online.
CASA will be releasing more advisory
material on the new drone rules in the near
future and is working to develop an app so
users can be clear on regulations.
However, if you are in doubt it is still best
to use a licensed operator.
“The regulation changes coming into effect
later this year are somewhat of a concern to
the licensed operators in the industry,” said
Nathan Clarke of Top Snap in Central Victoria,
a fully licensed drone operator. “Unlicenced
operators may not have the knowledge
and necessary skills to avoid getting into
dangerous situations. Those holding licenses
have completed comprehensive theory and
flying tests and are insured for public liability
and property damage.”
Comprehensive information on remotely
piloted aircraft is available on the CASA web
site casa.gov.au.

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eliteagent.com.au 19

EVERYONE'S
TALKING
ABOUT…

REA: TECHNOLOGY
AND TEAMWORK
TRACEY FELLOWS took some time out at AREC 2016

to speak with Elite Agent’s Editor Samantha McLean.
A digital innovator through and through, Fellows
has enjoyed roles as Executive GM of Communication
Management Services at Australia Post and as
Microsoft Vice-President for the Asia-Pacific
Region before joining REA Group as Executive
Director and CEO.
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
S: You went to Silicon Valley last year to visit
companies like Google, Facebook, Uber – what
did you take away from this experience that
relates to the Australian real estate industry?
T: The biggest thing I took away was
innovation and the imagination of people:
it doesn’t take 100 people to have a great
idea. Some great ideas have a really small
start. Innovative people try something. If it
doesn’t succeed, they change the idea – they
repivot it. They didn’t start off with their
final idea – they repivoted their original idea
and came up with something great.
REALITY BITES AND VIDEO MARKETING
S: realestate.com.au does a lot of research
on consumer behaviours, particularly when
it comes to property advertising. What
insights have you gained from that?
T: You can absolutely see how different
presentations of product appeal to consumers.
Our Premier product absolutely grabs the eye.
There’s a lot of science and research our teams
put into the consumer experience. How do you
make things less confusing for consumers,
more appealing? We do an enormous amount
of testing before we release any product,
whether on desktop or on mobile.
S: Virtual reality and augmented reality are
becoming part of the property industry’s
digital marketing landscape. Can you explain
the difference between the two?
T: Virtual reality is an image of the real world
which you are immersed in by putting on a
headpiece powered by a processor – a phone,
for example. Augmented reality is taking
something real and extending it to make it
seem more real; it’s slightly confected. You
don’t require goggles on your head to have an

20 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

“Mediums that let
people be more in
control, spend more
time exploring where
they want to be, look at
things the way they want
to are more appealing
and more engaging for
consumers.”
augmented reality experience. Virtual reality
can, unfortunately, make people a little dizzy
and be a bit nausea-inducing. There is a small
percentage of people who get this!
S: Do you think virtual and augmented reality
will take over video in property marketing?
T: I think there’s still a case for video, because
it offers buyers a broad perspective on a
property. Over time, I think augmented and
virtual reality have the potential to take
over as a medium. Consumers want to be in
control. With video, you’re only seeing what

someone has decided you’re going to see. We
do see people bailing on lifestyle videos in five
seconds – they really do. One part is cynicism
and the other is ‘you are not showing me the
things I want to see’. Mediums that let people
be more in control, spend more time exploring
where they want to be, look at things the
way they want to are more appealing and
more engaging for consumers. Many property
videos are a bit like something on MTV:
there’s music, crashing waves, but not as
much substance. That is what they don’t like.

REA GOES GLOBAL
S: REA has expanded into both Southeast
Asia and the US with stakes in iProperty
Group and Move as well as operating
businesses in Italy, Luxembourg and Hong
Kong, plus the Chinese language website
myfun.com. Can you tell us about any other
expansion plans moving forward?
T: Yes, they’re pretty big expansions. The
acquisition in Southeast Asia is the biggest
acquisition we’ve ever made. Really, for
us, right now, it’s how we expand those
businesses in those countries, how we
move into some of the areas that we are
[currently] in, which they’re not in today;
they are pretty basic listings businesses.
Equally, how we help our customers reach
consumers in those markets, which we think
is a great opportunity, and even connect
those experiences. That’s really the focus
right now, versus into other areas.
S: Is the Australian real estate industry
more mature or advanced than those in
Asia or the US? How do our industry
professionals compare?
T: I think we’re much more advanced. I don’t
know quite why that is – perhaps it’s our
obsession with property, but how we present
properties, the digital awareness of our
agents [is ahead]. How we present property
for sale is certainly more advanced than
in Asia. Consumers in Asia are absolutely
online, they’re absolutely digital, but I think
Australia’s real estate industry has really
shown that the way we market properties,
and bring them to life in print and digital
formats, is way ahead of what we see almost
anywhere else in the world.
REALESTATE.COM.AU – WORKING
WITH AGENTS
S: You’ve made it clear that realestate.com.
au plans to continue to work more closely
with agents. How will you help agents bring
bigger audiences to their vendors?
T: The agents are the industry, and
realestate.com.au feels part of the industry
too. We’ve made investments to support

agents; for example, the AREA Awards we
announced just a little while ago. We invest
in educating agents digitally, and around
Momentum events too. We want to help
agents to digitally market themselves –
that ‘digital interview’ is so important!
We think there’s a great role realestate.
com.au can play in this connection, because
consumers are already on our site looking
for property. When they’re thinking about

selling their property, we’re also a logical
place for them to go. Realestate.com.
au has the largest audience of property
seekers – we want to help agents (on
behalf of their vendors) reach this audience.
Increasingly we can do that in Australia,
but we can do so equally overseas. We
know that Australia is the number one
destination for 30 per cent of property
investors in Southeast Asia.

RAINMAKER RULES
S: At AREC this year, it’s all about
rainmakers and people making their own
rules. If there was a rule you could make
right now, what would it be?
T: I’m probably not really one for rules, but
I think the best thing to do is to embrace
the fact that there’s going to be new ways
of doing things in the real estate industry.
Sometimes the real estate industry is
resistant to change – there’s almost a
mistrust of it. In the world we live in, so much
is changing so quickly. Don’t mistrust it.
Think about how change can create
a win for you, about how it can make
something better. Whether it’s how you
engage with your customers, new business
opportunities, making something easier for
you to do. You can’t pretend things aren’t
changing and look away. Embrace the new
ways of doing things.
We live in a global world. We all have to be
doing different things to keep consumers
engaged. If we’re not, somebody else is!
We’re better off thinking, ‘How do I lead it?’
rather than being caught flat-footed saying,
‘What do I do now?!’

EVERYONE'S
TALKING
ABOUT…
This could mean there is a diminishing return
or more of a focus on work-life balance.
Survey Takeaway: Five to six exercise
sessions per week of around 60 minutes’
duration appears to be the optimal exercise
range for earnings.

WHAT REALLY HELPS
YOU TO EARN MORE?

IS SLEEP AND THE 5AM CLUB A FACTOR?
By far the most successful agents in terms
of earnings are those who get between five
and six hours of sleep per night and start the
day between 5am and 5.30am.
The survey found that late risers or those
who get more than eight hours’ sleep per
night are the worst-performing people from
a GCI perspective.
Survey Takeaway: Tom Panos has been
telling us to get up early for years; turns out
he’s right.

MOST OF US HAVE heard the lessons: get up early,

invest in yourself and don’t watch too much TV (among
others). While there are many professional elements
that go into achieving the number on your group
certificate – such as customer service, technology
and branding – we wanted to find out about personal
factors, the ones we can control like sleep, exercise,
marketing and home life and how they may or may not
WHAT YOU WATCH ON TV
GCI or gross earnings. We surveyed more
than
VERAGE GCI impact
BY AGE GROUP
TV WATCHING
AND IMPACT ON GCI
Keeping yourself informed is an important
200 agents and here’s what we found. 40
part of being able to hold a variety of

conversations with your clients and
prospects, although many coaches will stay
But age wasn’t the 32
only factor in income
away from too much TV in preference to
success. Respondents who have been in the
podcasts and self-education. But how much
28
industry for more than 10 years generate
is really OK?
roughly 50 per cent more
The highest GCI bracket responded that
24 GCI than those
in the one-to-five and five-to-10 years of
they watched between three and five hours’
20
service brackets.
TV3-5per
0-2 hrs
hrs week. We’ve made
5+ hrs a mental note for
Survey Takeaway: Age is no barrier to
next
Hours
peryear
weekto ask about the type of TV being
income potential, but experience can make
watched too.
SCRIPT PRACTICE AND IMPACT
ON Takeaway:
GCI
all the difference.
Survey
We think this means
35
some TV is good to relax, but too many hours
IS THERE AN OPTIMAL
in front of the box won’t do much for GCI.
30 AMOUNT OF
EXERCISE FOR EARNING?
25
Both men and women
in our survey
COACHING AND TRAINING
20
exercised roughly the same number of times The agents surveyed who have a coach
15
per week, but interestingly we found that
generated about 50 per cent more GCI than
10
women exercised three times longer in the
those who don’t.
5
gym than their male counterparts.
Additionally, agents who practised their
In terms of GCI, the 0$500k to $1m category scripts and dialogues at least once a day
None
1-2
3-4
5+
averaged five to six exercise sessions per
were generating on average 50 per cent
Frequency per week
week, but those who said they exercised
more than those who didn’t.
more than seven times a week were in fact
Survey Takeaway: Get a coach. Practise
in the lowest GCI category (less than 200k).
before game day.

XERCISE ANDWHICH
IMPACTISON
GCI
A BETTER
PREDICTOR OF Duration

Frequency

< 30 mins

1-2 times

EARNINGS –Duration
AGE OR EXPERIENCE?
30-60
mins part the
60-90
mins
> 90 mins
For the
most
under-25s,
being
the
new entrants to the industry, were the group
most likely to be building a profile or working
as assistants. Their GCI results reflected this
compared to the other age groups.
The highest earners in our survey were
the 25 to 35 year olds, with 70 per cent of
them being in the 350k to 500k bracket.
This group also had the highest number of
respondents
3-4 times in the million
5-6 timesdollar-plus
MoreGCI
than 7
category. See
the graph for the average
Frequency
commission for each age group.

Percentage

< 25 yo

THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES ENDED IN
NO CONTEST
Of the respondents we surveyed, men and
women earned roughly the same numbers
spread across the different GCI brackets.
Survey
Gender
noyo
25-35Takeaway:
yo
35-45
yo presents
> 45
barrier to income
Age potential.

Percentage

36

Wake time
LEEP HABITS AND IMPACT ON GCI
Sleep length
AVERAGE GCI BY AGE GROUP
Between
6-7am

WATCHING
AND IMPACT ON GCI
SHARE OF GCI TV
TOTAL
BY EXPERIENCE
40

After 7am

36

25

Percentage

Between
5-5:30am
Percentage

Between
4-5am

Wake time
35Between
5:30-6am
30

20

32

15

10+yrs
28
43%

10

24

5

< 25 yo

25-35 yo

35-45 yo

20

> 45 yo

Age
5-6 hrs

6-7 hrs

7-8 hrs

8+ hrs

Duration
Frequency

EXERCISE
AND IMPACT ON GCI
Sleep
length
Duration
< 30 mins

30-60 mins

22 ELITE AGENT
• AUG-SEP 2016
40
35

60-90 mins

5-10yrs
28%

0-2 hrs

3-5 hrs
Hours per week

SCRIPT PRACTICE AND IMPACT ON GCI
35

> 90 mins

30
tage

4-5 hrs

1-5yrs
29%

25
20

5+ hrs

20

25
20
15

15

10

10
5

< 25 yo

25-35 yo

35-45 yo

Duration
< 30 mins

30-60 mins

60-90 mins

Between
4-5am

> 90 mins

35

Percentage

30
25
Percentage

30
25
20

20

SLEEP HABITS AND IMPACT ON GCI

THE $500K – $1M EARNER…
Wake time
Between
4-5am

Between
5-5:30am

Between
5:30-6am

Between
6-7am

10

More than 7

4-5 hrs

Percentage

20
15

Wake time
Sleep length
After 7am

Male or female

Has a coach

25 to 35 years old
OR has more than 10
years’ experience

10

Sleeps 5 to 6
hours a night

Rises between
4-5 hrsand 5.30am
5-6 hrs
5.00am

6-7 hrs

7-8 hrs

8+ hrs

Sleep length

AVERAGE GCI BY AGE GROUP

20

Maintains a ‘hot’
pipeline list

15
10
5

< 25 yo

25-35 yo

Exercises between 5
and 6 hours per week

35-45 yo

> 45 yo

Age

< 30 mins

30-60 mins

60-90 mins

Duration
Frequency

> 90 mins

32
28

20
1-2 times

5-6 hrs

6-7 hrs

1-2
3-4
Frequency per week
7-8 hrs
8+ hrs

PROSPECTING AND FOCUS
Our survey
foundOF
that
maintain
SHARE
GCIagents
TOTAL who
BY EXPERIENCE
a chase or hot pipeline list generate almost
70 per cent more GCI than those who
don’t. Similarly, agents who followed a
strict ideal day or ideal week were 30 per
1-5yrs
cent up on the income of those who
didn’t.
29%
10+yrs
Significantly, clarity of goals resulted in a
45 per cent higher43%
group certificate than
those who didn’t have such clear targets.
5-10yrs
Survey Takeaway: Those who
practised
28%
all three things generated 50 per
cent more
GCI on average than those who only did one
or two.

25
20
15
10
5

0-2 hrs
3-4 times

3-5 hrs
Hours per week
5-6 times
More than 7

5+ hrs

0

None

1-2
3-4
Frequency per week

5+

FrequencyAND IMPACT ON GCI
SCRIPT PRACTICE
35
30

SLEEP HABITS AND IMPACT ON GCI
ge

10

None

30

24

15

15
10

SCRIPT PRACTICE AND IMPACT ON GCI

25

20

25
20

35

Percentage

30

Percentage

35

Duration

36

40

After 7am

Hours per week

WATCHING
EXERCISE ANDTV
IMPACT
ON GCIAND IMPACT ON GCI
40

Between
6-7am

Percentage

Does more than 10
market appraisals
per week

25

Between
5:30-6am

PERSONAL MARKETING AND BRANDING
It was extremely clear that investment in
personal marketing delivered almost linear
results in any of the categories in our survey,
Watches only 3 to 5
meaning that additional spend in marketing
hours of TV per week
directly
TV WATCHING ANDcorrelated
IMPACT ON
GCI to an increase in GCI.
Staggeringly,
those agents who said they
40
Spends $10k+ pa in
were investing $10k or more per year in their
personal36marketing
own personal marketing were generating
on average twice as much GCI as those who
32
Mostly follows
an
were investing zero.
ideal day28or week
Survey Takeaway: Spending money on
marketing and personal branding increases
24
your earning potential – but we suspect
that comes with a caveat of ensuring
20
consistency
and ROI.
0-2 hrs
3-5 hrs
5+ hrs

Practises scripts and
dialogues daily

35

5+ hrs

Spends more
than three hours
prospecting

Is crystal clear
on goals

30

3-5 hrs
Hours per week

Sleep length

30
25

35 Between
30 5-5:30am

0

15
3-4 times
5-6 times
Frequency

0-2 hrs

More than 7

5
15

1-2 times

3-4 times
5-6 times
Frequency

Wake time
SLEEP HABITS AND IMPACT ON GCI
Sleep length
SCRIPT PRACTICE
AND
IMPACT
ON
GCI
Wake time

40

10

28

20

Duration
Frequency

EXERCISE AND IMPACT ON GCI

32

1-2 times 24

> 45 yo

Age

Percentage

Percentage

Perc

Percentage

25

25

Wake time

Wake time
Sleep length

eliteagent.com.au 23
SHARE OF GCI TOTAL BY EXPERIENCE

5+

EVERYONE'S
TALKING
ABOUT…

IS THE SOCIAL WORLD
GETTING CLOSER TO THE
LISTINGS WORLD?
WITH THE THREAT FROM DISRUPTIVE technology at the

forefront of everyone’s mind, we caught up with Stuart
Leo, founder of Blirt, a customer experience specialist.
Stuart was a keynote speaker at the recent Property
Portal Watch conference in Bangkok, and as a marketing
and automation expert, we asked Stuart to give us his
thoughts about recent innovations and what may be
around the corner which could challenge the real estate
industry including the portals.
Firstly, can you tell us a little about Blirt?
At Blirt we’ve spent the last 15 years in the
world of the internet, where marketing and
technology are really coming together due
to the availability of huge amounts of data,
such as that supplied through social media
activity. The harnessing of that data has
given birth to an entire new industry which
aims to make it easier to reach and convert
customers in amazing new ways.
What we call the ‘experience economy’ is
underpinned by the fact that it has become
easier to find information. I can be playing
around having a cup of coffee in a café of a

24 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

Saturday morning and updating my social
media pages while still looking for that dream
property – that’s really exciting and has
profound implications for customer interaction.
Our customer is in far greater control today
than they ever have been. They can find
out everything they need; the information
is at their fingertips and, as we all know,
knowledge is power. So the power has
now shifted to the customer side of the
equation. There are tools to help developers,
people selling property, people looking for
property and tools to communicate and
make it easier to sell.

Can you tell us a little more about how things
are changing?
It’s 2016 and marketers are looking to
influence and communicate beyond the
lead conversion. We used to spend most
of our advertising budget on big ads,
billboards, television and radio as well as
newspapers. But now we as marketers
and communicators are looking to support
a lead generation process through a
customer journey. It might mean providing
the lead with email updates or the relevant
content in their Facebook feed. The
property portals of today are all about
just getting that lead conversion – getting
someone to an open for inspection. But
that is changing.
There’s a global trend where the social
world is getting closer to the listings world,
whether through customer comments or
advocates for that property, such as friends
and family. It’s very easy for that content to
be shared. We’re beginning to understand
the customer journey and the portals
need to look at providing the right content
support through that journey.
Will there be a time when agents could go
straight to social media to market their
listings?

If we look at other industries we begin to
understand how digital platforms have
allowed buyers to connect more easily. We
are facing a world where there’ll be different
methods of buying and selling; that might
mean that the agent has less reliance on the
portal and data from social media becomes
more important. Similarly, the portals need
to look at how they add value.
How should real estate agents be marketing
to stay profitable and relevant?
I still believe people buy from people, so
there will always be a role for the real
estate agent in the future. Agents should
be actively using digital tools to maintain
relationships and perhaps a flyer in the
letterbox isn’t the most effective way of
doing that.
Real estate agents ought to be collecting
good data and understanding potential
customers. So if there’s a trigger in the
data to say ‘we’re getting married’ or
‘we’re having children’ or ‘I need this’ then
that’s a trigger to an action that starts
an automated journey. That logic can be
preset, managed and run in the right way,
at the right time, as opposed to dropping

Real estate agents ought to be collecting good data
and understanding potential customers. So if there’s
a trigger in the data to say ‘we’re getting married’ or
‘we’re having children’ or ‘I need this’ then that’s a
trigger to an action that starts an automated journey.
a flyer in ten thousand letterboxes at the
same time; that’s just not efficient.
So how does social media help real estate
agents?
Analytical platforms today are extremely
powerful and it’s possible that the agent’s
CRM system can tag information if
someone they have an email address for has
watched [for instance] a video on Facebook.
That video might be about choosing a
school. This should then start a CRM
journey; the person is added to a targeted
database for that particular life event; they
get more relevant emails and marketing
material because they watched a video on
social media.
The world of social listening is very
powerful now. We often think that just

FACEBOOK – REACH YOUR PREFERRED
AUDIENCE WITH SMARTER ANALYTICS
Facebook have recently
made more changes to
their newsfeed algorithm,
which again favours
content from your friends
rather than what you
may be posting to attract
new clients or buyers. But
there is a way that you can
more effectively target
your content to the right
audience on Facebook –
whether it’s listings or
other social content – using
clever big-data analytics by
Quantium and CoreLogic.
Last year, when Elite
Agent did the ‘Are you
ready for 2020?’ thought
leadership white paper
we found that agents
should be looking to target
niches they personally
identify with and to speak
differently to those niches
in a way that will appeal to
them. A news piece about

babies or child care centres
is not going to appeal
to a farm area of empty
nesters!
But on places like
Facebook how do you
make sure you are getting
it right when the potential
audience is so huge? You
want to be certain that
you are sending the right
messages to the right
people. So now you can;
enter some very clever
analytics by companies like
Quantium and CoreLogic.
As it happens, there
are big data companies
out there who, as you
are probably aware, are
gathering data on us as
consumers every second
of every day – including
our spending patterns in
the supermarkets and
other places, our takeaway
habits, what we watch on

Foxtel, what we own and
what we rent – thereby
building up a picture of
our habits online and
offline. Companies like
Quantium can take this
raw data, crunch it up,
anonymise it so that there
is no personal information
involved and offer these
‘audience segments’ on
places like Facebook, which
advertisers like yourselves
can use for free. All you
need is a Facebook business
page, a Facebook advertiser
account in good order and
then apply to be whitelisted
by Quantium to obtain
access to this audience.
With the recent
Facebook algorithm
changes this is already
proving to be a much
better, more costeffective solution for
Facebook advertising.
More information online
at eliteagent.com.au/
facebook-quantium.

because we post on social media it’s private;
it’s not. It’s a public space, and social
listening tools can collect that information
and go ‘here is information that fits’.
Facebook taught themselves to go ‘this
person fits a certain audience’; for example,
a young-mother audience. Those social
cues, things we say and do, put us into
particular audiences that advertisers would
want to talk to.
Who are the companies to watch in this
space?
The big guys are doing interesting stuff.
Realestate.com.au is doing interesting
things. Domain has released a whole
bunch of really interesting tools. We’re
a great advocate for the salesforce.com
platform. Anyone that can break down
walls between dehumanised listings of
property and gain more human eyes, social
interaction and engagement. I think you’ll
see really interesting work coming from
some start-ups as well.
iProperty Group, who are portal leaders
now owned by REA, presented their
business intelligence dashboard for
developers with some great information.
If I own a block of land in Asia, how many
dwellings should I build, how big should
they be, what price should I put on them?
It’s not just about sales data but also
search traffic data.
One of the most interesting guys to
present at Property Portal Watch had some
interesting technology [myrealestate.com.
au] which included artificial intelligence.
If you are comfortable with a tablet or
a mobile device, it’s much easier to say,
‘Show me this budget in this area’ and have
a whole bunch of properties come back
to you. I think voice activation and virtual
assistants are all spaces that are on the
edge right now, but will be mainstream for
the future.
Anything that makes the buying
experience easier, less costly, more
pleasurable, faster – that’s where the
future is. We’re interested in delivering
better customer experiences, so anything
that helps that is a benefit to the industry.
Words: Steve Mallach.

eliteagent.com.au 25

FIRST PERSON

Josh Phegan

Fee falling

proactive from the beginning.
If you’re not confident in
your ability, you can’t expect
others to be. You have to
set what you’re worth in the
marketplace.

especially when someone tries to undercut you. High
performance real estate coach and trainer Josh Phegan has
some example techniques which will help you fight the
discounters and maintain your fee.

FEE APPROXIMATION CLOSE
Start your listing presentation
by highlighting that agents
charge fees anywhere from
three per cent down to 1.5 per
cent, and while you’re not the
dearest or the cheapest you are
known for having the best value.
By starting with the larger
fee you’ve used that as a base
platform from which to jump.
Later in the presentation and
in summary, mention your
actual fee and then switch to
another topic. That way the
customer doesn’t really get a
chance to jump in.

NEGOTIATING YOUR COMMISSION CAN be a tricky business,

Fee cutters are a fact
of life in real estate.
You will never be able to escape
them, but there are ways to
overcome them.
I’m sure most agents, if not
every agent, have cut their fee
at some point – only to have the
competition score the listing
anyway. It’s a gutting feeling.
But the fact is, if you don’t
offer a better experience for your
higher fee then there’s no reason
for a client to select you as their
agent over any other person
at any fee. Differentiation is
the key, and in the absence of
differentiation the customer will

always shop on price.
From a client’s viewpoint, skill
and experience count for less
than confidence and energy.
Therefore, to win business you
need to sell yourself better
than all the other agents; to do
this you need to listen to your
customer and relate your value
to their needs.

ASKING THE RIGHT
QUESTIONS
The most important component
of the listing presentation is
identifying need. If you can
identify the client’s needs then
you can sell the features and

Differentiation is the key, and in
the absence of differentiation the
customer will always shop on price.

26 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

benefits that specifically relate
to the client and where they are
in the sales process.
Find out:
• What they are looking for in
an agent
• What they don’t want in
an agent
• How they will select their agent
• What they already know about
your company and yourself,
and why they called you in.
Asking these types of
questions allow you to build a
case for what you’re worth.
One of my clients hit a major
problem when potential
vendors would hang up the
phone if he mentioned a fee
higher than one per cent.
Instead, by highlighting that
fees ‘started at one per cent’
they were able to get in the
door more often.
The next step is to build the
fee up with tasks like open
homes charged at an extra
0.5 per cent. That’s not being
tricky or deceitful; it’s simply
understanding that there are
multiple fee levels.
This client also started having
agency agreements pre-written
at 2.5 per cent including GST,
and since then they’ve achieved
that fee every time.
I also get a lot of requests for
fee defence scripts. The reality
is, if you think you’re going to
win on fee because you have a
great fee defence then you’re in
trouble. Rather than defending
your fee I recommend being

DOLLAR DIFFERENCE
This is another of my favourite
techniques and it’s so simple.
Estimate fee dollar difference
between yourself and your
competitors and suggest the
difference is added to the
reserve price. You still attract
the fee you’re worth, but the
vendors also feel they’re not
paying too much out of their
own pocket.
CHEAP VERSUS QUALITY
It’s also important to remind
potential clients that in life
you often get what you pay
for and real estate agents are
no different.
Ask them, ‘Have you ever
bought the cheap version of
something only to have to
go back and buy the more
expensive version to ensure the
job was done correctly? Don’t
make that same mistake with
your agent’.
Josh Phegan is a high
performance real estate
speaker, trainer and coach to
some of the best agents and
agencies around the world.
For more information visit
joshphegan.com.au.

FIRST PERSON

Julie Davis and Neil Williams

Would you hire
a chef without
tasting their food?
THE MOST IMPORTANT element of a real estate agent’s

business is without doubt their ability to list a property. If we all
recognise the importance of a professional and competent listing
presentation, why do we totally ignore this when we recruit or
head-hunt experienced agents?

When was the last time
you asked a prospective
team member to do a role
play of their listing presentation
before being offered a position?
The biggest database, the
most effective generating,
marketing and farming
processes don’t account for a
hill of beans if you blow it at the
listing presentation.
The listing table is where it
all happens. It doesn’t make
sense to put on a team member
without knowing how they
perform in the role. Why
put them in your brand, load
them up with your marketing
material and place them in
front of clients if you don’t
actually know how they will
present the most critical
function of their position?
The salesperson recruiting
process usually follows a
familiar path. Telephone
call for a coffee, then a few
catch-ups prior to presenting
a proposal, followed by the
usual horse-trading regarding
commission splits, office space
and car parking spots. The
candidate often shows us a
printout of the past 12 months’
commission payments as proof

28 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

candidates will be more
comfortable with role play
than others, but if you make
it the ‘non-negotiable’ of your
recruiting standards you will
be more confident in your
decision-making and invariably
recruit the best candidate. The
benefit to the candidate is that
when they are accepted for the
position they know that they
are equipped for the job and
have the faith of the principal.
When we assist principals with
recruiting, we conduct a onehour listing presentation role
play that is recorded for both
the principal and the candidate.
This allows for accurate and
validated assessment of their
performance and provides
a benchmark for future
assistance and development.
When a business owner buys

When was the last time you asked a prospective team
member to do a role play of their listing presentation
before being offered a position?
that they can make money, but
unfortunately that is where our
due diligence stops. So just how
good are they?
While their track record
and GCI are significant, the
most important factor is how
successful the candidate is
when measured against the
competition. In other words, can
they beat the other agents and
get the business?
We have worked with clients
who have recruited salespeople
based on reputation and
charisma, only to discover that
their past success was a result
of handouts from the boss,
or being part of a two-person
team where the heavy lifting
had been done by the other guy.
There should be no short cuts
when recruiting experienced
team members for sales
roles or BDMs for property
management. Put a process
around your due diligence;
make sure that you’re getting
what you’re paying for and that

your agency standards will be
maintained or exceeded.
Ensure that a listing
presentation role play is an
essential element of your
recruitment process. Explain
to candidates that you need
a benchmark so that you can
best integrate your company
image and procedures into their
presentation while retaining
their natural style.
Observe how they handle
tough questions and how
they validate their fee for
service. You will also get a
clear understanding of how
they present their marketing
material and discuss their VPA
packages with the clients.
If they can’t be with you in
person, then do it via Skype
or Google. It will also help to
identify where they may need
to upgrade or tweak their
presentation to comply with
your standards and increase
their chances of success.
It is true that some

a new car they rarely walk into
a car yard and say ‘I’ll take
that one’. They first do the
research and before making
any purchasing decision they
will take the car for a test drive
to see if it performs to their
expectations. Handling, brakes,
comfort levels all come into
play and are assessed as to
whether the car does what they
want it to do.
If we do this to buy a $50,000
car, then why don’t we mirror
the process when recruiting a
$500,000 salesperson?

Julie Davis and Neil Williams
from Agent Dynamics have
niched into providing specialist
services to small and medium
sized agencies, focusing on
growth strategy, recruitment
and leadership. They bring to
the table a skill set developed
‘hands on’ as principals,
trainers and mentors,
supported by Neil’s 20 years’
military experience.

FIND THE ELITE

JOBS
Instead of advertising your next role on a generic job site, advertise on eliteagent.com.au
to an audience of real estate industry professionals.
Visit eliteagent.com.au/realestatejobs for more info or contact us on (02) 8854 6123

FIRST PERSON

Ian Campbell

Technology; but not
for technology’s sake
Most real estate businesses today are full of technology, but
you need to make sure that what you are implementing is at
the right time and for the right reasons. You can innovate from
within, says Ian Campbell of Console.

Technology and innovation
usually go together, but
not all technology is great
innovation, and innovation can
happen without technology.
Innovation, to me, really needs
to demonstrate tangible value to
a customer.
At Console, we recently
completed an extensive research
project into the future technology
needs of the industry. One of
the key findings was that the
greatest fear that decisionmakers had in relation to
implementing new technologies
was that the change actually adds
no value.
There are many things everyone
already has access to which are
not used to their full extent.
I think what needs to happen
is that we need to remove the
distractions of the ‘shiny objects’
and really focus on that short to
medium term type technology
that’s already here, and how it can
be leveraged to improve service
and quality. We don’t have to wait
for the next technology or outside
innovation to do this.
Here are some ideas:

1

FOCUS ON MAXIMISING
VALUE-ADD ACTIVITIES
FOR YOUR END
CUSTOMER
A value-add is anything that the
customer, your end customer,
would perceive as ‘that’s what
I’m paying you to do’. In the case

30 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

of property management, they’re
paying you to do the inspection.
They’re paying you to projectmanage a maintenance issue to
completion. What they’re not
doing is paying for your internal
administrative processes; so if
you are handling data manually
start thinking about ways you
can automate that – for example,
scanning invoices and other
documentation.
Assess the technologies or
add-ons that you thought were
a good idea at the time but
you’re not using as well as you
could be. Ask yourself why you
bought them in the first place
and whether they have actually
delivered on that expectation. If
you can’t identify their purpose
in terms of adding value to your
clients, then question whether
you really need them. If you think
the potential is still there but you
just didn’t implement it properly,

How usable
something is
varies greatly
from person to
person and often
relies on our own
perspective of
the world.

it’s never too late to try again. All
technology vendors want you to
be 100 per cent satisfied with the
value that their product provides.

2

GET PROPER TRAINING
Recently I purchased an
Apple watch and, being
always in a hurry, declined the
offer of the salesperson to show
me around my new toy. I know
I’m not using it to its full potential
and hence not capitalising on the
potential return on investment.
As a business, for every dollar
you spend you need to be able to
ensure a return on investment.
Whether it’s a new piece of tech
or a new employee, recognise
that your ROI is nearly always
dependent on you understanding
how to get the most out of this
new addition to your business.
Our research revealed that
one of the most critical things
that technology had to deliver
was ‘usability’. But how usable
something is varies greatly from
person to person and often
relies on our own perspective of
the world. There is significant
turnover in the real estate
industry. There are people
coming in and out all the time,
and so are in and out of different
systems, processes and ways of
doing things.
Ensuring that your staff are
adequately trained on your
systems should be nonnegotiable. But just remember,

there are two factors to ensuring
competency in staff: training
and knowledge on the business
systems, and training and
knowledge about how to do
their job. The vast majority of
our support calls are actually
addressing lack of legislative or
accounting knowledge.

3

DON’T BE A DIGITAL
HOARDER
De-clutter your
systems. So many people we
find are afraid to clean out their
databases and they end up being
cluttered, like an old house being
filled to the roof with 20-year-old
newspapers. Don’t be afraid to
let go! Bloated databases affect
return on investment, particularly
with direct marketing. Recently
I received a DL card from a real
estate office via Australia Post,
and the next day I received the
same DL card via the regular mail.
This is just one example of the
considerable waste within the
industry, and is one of the key
reasons why the industry’s value
is under question.
The sort of client service
you’re expected to provide is
now significantly higher than
it used to be. The industry
needs to continue to innovate
on consumer value proposition,
as well as finding ways to gain
efficiencies in service to allow
for decreased margins
in commissions.
Technology can go a long
way to solving problems or
improving that bottom line;
there is absolutely no question
about that. But it’s also up to
you to meet these demands by
innovating from within. Use what
you have to its fullest extent and
don’t just implement technology
for the sake of it.
Ian Campbell is the Director of
Sales and Product at Console
and is currently heading up
Console’s key project to deliver
the next generation of cloud
based agency solutions.
For more information visit
console.com.au.

THE NEXT GENER ATION
OF TR AINING IS HERE
MORE EFFICIENT. MORE MOBILE. MORE INTELLIGENT.

My Real Estate Training has entrylevel and experienced agent programs
in all Australian States and Territories.
CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION
AGENT REPRESENTATIVE
LICENCE PROGRAMS
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

Sometimes I feel like
real estate just takes and
takes from me. How can I avoid
burnout? – Patrick Cosgrove,
Raine & Horne Bondi Beach
First, set some boundaries
around work and life balance.
Setting clear goals makes life
so much easier, because you
know where you are going and
can control how to get there.
Without clear goals you can
experience feelings of confusion
and frustration which can drain
your energy and decrease your
productivity.
Your work/personal balance
is all about flexibility, but to
have flexibility you need a solid
structure around you – both at
work and at home. Structure
is important because it brings
certainty to the world; you
know what’s going to happen
and why it’s going to happen.
Without structure, life is a bit
more chaotic. You then find
that you use both physical
and emotional energy to
bring meaning and clarity to
different situations.
Practise good time
management by doing the
right thing, in the right way,

at the right time and for the
right length of time. To be
able to do this, it’s necessary
to establish your priorities
and then focus only on those
tasks that advance important
goals – those goals that will
bring in high payoff results.
It’s important to aim for
excellence, but not necessarily
for perfection. When you aim
for excellence you will achieve
an excellent result, but when
you aim for perfection you may
never quite get there.
A good time management
technique is to make
appointments – ‘morning’ is
proactive, such as prospecting
on the phone, and the
afternoon ‘reactive’. And
the best time management
technique is to not think about
it but to simply get started.
Real estate is a journey, and
with every journey it’s more
rewarding if you enjoy every
stage. Enjoy the sales and
listings, the people and the
opportunities. To enhance your
work/life balance it is very
important to enjoy what you
do: play level 10 – work hard
and play hard!

Remember, it’s how you make
the vendor feel, not what you say!

32 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

Q.

How do you deal with
vampire, energy-sucking
vendors? – Matt Marano, Oxford
Real Estate Darlinghurst
Some people can be difficult,
including vendors, but if you
have empathy you will be
able to put yourself in your
client’s shoes.
Empathy is one of the
key ingredients of top
salespeople. Vendor empathy
is a differentiator; it builds
credibility, trust and helps
you develop a long-lasting
relationship. Empathy allows a
salesperson to view the world
from the prospect’s eyes to
see where the problem is. But
there are other reasons why
empathy is important to the
entire sales process.
It builds trust. Successful
sales agents will tell you it is
absolutely necessary to build
lasting relationships. Empathy
shows that you care about the
client and you want to help
them. The more you show
empathy towards their plight,
the more trust you will build.
Don’t underestimate
the power of empathy in
this regard.
It’s a differentiator. Being
empathetic will help you stand
out from the other dozen
salespeople that the prospect
has already met. This is because
you are showing them from
the very beginning that you are
here to help, not make a sale.
Many agents use the heavy
and aggressive vendor style
management of bashing them
down on price, which can leave
a stale experience. Remember,
it’s how you make the vendor
feel, not what you say!
It builds credibility. Showing
empathy ensures that you
take the time to listen and
understand before offering a

solution to their problem.
Lastly, I would say you want
to be aware of your own
emotions on the matter. Do
you want to make this sale?
Yes, absolutely. But that is
short-term thinking. Long
term would be helping the
client and building a lasting
relationship. Your emotions
can distract you from the real
reason you are there: to help
them. Be mindful of that and
you should be fine.

Q.

In my marketplace there
are low levels of listings
compared to other years. What
should I focus on? – Sam Green,
Forsyth Real Estate Willoughby
One area you should
concentrate on in this market
is working the buyers. The
market is definitely seeing a
positive shift. People are tired
of sitting on their hands and
are prepared to sell or buy;
but they remain cautious,
expect great value and will
punish any agent who waits
for business to come to them.
This is the perfect market;
there are enough buyers to
create the urgency you need,
attract the right range of
buyers and elevate the listing
well above a growing level of
competition.
What’s hot right now?
• Data
• Delegation
• Discipline
• Deadlines
And don’t forget: days off
(you have to stay fresh when
you’re this busy).
This is a market to really enjoy
and capitalise on.

By using property data
to target consumers on
Facebook, our clients
cost per conversion have
decreased by 70%

Run an advert for as little as $5* per day
(*see the website for details)

leadagent.com.au

Mindset
Corner
Jet Xavier

How to beat call reluctance
“Everybody lives by selling something,” according to Robert Louis Stevenson. But, for
many agents, working the phones is still one of the most difficult tasks to face.

A

n agent I was
working with told
me they found it
hard to call people.
When I asked
why this was,
they said they felt
uncomfortable ringing people
they didn’t know or had not
spoken to in some time, including
their buyers and vendors.
Even though this person had
a database of 1,200 warmer
contacts, they still stumbled at
what is the most valuable task
for an agent: calling and staying
connected. This had a major
impact on their business. In fact,
this call reluctance is one of the
main reasons many agents fail.
Agents know that it is
important to do open callbacks, work their database,
do anniversary calls, past
appraisals, buyer and vendor
management and a host of
other business-building calls, yet
most simply don’t.

to very high call and connect
volumes via the phone. This is
the heartbeat of their business
and is the most consistent
dollar-productive activity they
produce. Leads, appraisals,
listings, sales and referrals
all come from an original
connection point, mostly a call.

WHY DO AGENTS HAVE CALL
RELUCTANCE?
The fear of being pushy or
intrusive with people.
This fear is based on the
assumption that people will not
want to be contacted.
Fear of what others
think about them, being
rejected or having conflict. This
fear is an assumption based on
the misconception in the public
arena about real estate agents
not being trusted.
The lack of visibility
management. This is the
fear of letting people know who
you are and what you do well.

1

2

3

At the heart of call reluctance
is the agent’s inability and fear
of promoting themselves or
making themselves visible.
The fact is that every great
agent attacks the phones
every day to connect, and
builds relationships and strong
pipelines for future business
in the process. Look at the
majority of top performers and
you will see a strong correlation

34 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

Dudley and Goodson talk about
this in their book The Psychology
of Sales Call Reluctance, based
on their studies over 30 years
with more than 500,000
sales and non-sales people.
It shows that at the heart of
call reluctance is the agent’s

inability and fear of promoting
themselves or making
themselves visible.
Agents don’t know what
to say. This is very
common; you would be
surprised at the number of
agents who don’t know what to
say when calling prospects.
The agent is not cut out
for sales. It’s hard to say,
but it’s true. For many agents
who have trouble prospecting
and have call reluctance, real
estate sales is the wrong
industry for them. It is not
part of their DNA and they will
always struggle.

4
5

HOW DO YOU OVERCOME
CALL RELUCTANCE?
Understand the reward
you get from not calling
is actually stronger than the
reward for calling. It sounds
strange, but when you don’t
make the calls you should
you are actually getting a
reward. The problem is it is a
non-resourceful reward. The
reward might be that you avoid
potential conflict or rejection or
failure, so it’s easier not to call.
However, there is a greater
reward in calling yet it is not as
strong. You need to continually
connect to the reward for calling
– a possible new client or sale
or lead or listing – and focus on
the benefit to make the calling
reward the strongest.
Be prepared. It’s all in the
set-up. Set a time and
place with no interruptions.
Plan whom you will call, how
many calls you will make,
what you will say and what

1

2

outcome you want. Have a way
to measure the calls and block
out 45-minute call sessions
at a time. Call with a team or
a call partner. When you have
structure you have purpose,
and when you have purpose you
execute at higher levels.
Stop the negative head
noise and mind game
assumptions. Go from thinking
‘fear of failure’ to ‘potential
opportunity’. Reframe the call
to a positive, not a negative.
Ask yourself, what is the best
possible outcome from this?
Get your mind and body
into the game. Before
you call, get yourself into a
positive, happy state mentally,
emotionally and physically. In
other words, get pumped up
and then start calling.
Start your calls early.
Rory Vaden, New York
Times bestseller, talks about
diminished intent in regards to
call reluctance. The later you
start calling in the day, the less
likely you are to call at all. Start
when your intention is strong in
the morning.
Start with the easiest
calls first to get some
confidence and momentum.
There is an old approach that
says you should start with the
hard calls first. I think you need
to start with the easy ones first
to build confidence and get
some momentum going.

3

4
5

6

Jet Xavier is one of Australia’s
leading Mindset Coaches for
real estate sales professionals.
For more information visit
jetxavier.com.

AUSTRALIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LEADING
AGENTS USE
VISUAL DOMAIN
CONNECT INSTANTLY WITH BUYERS AND
SET YOURSELF APART FROM THE COMPETITION

Connected agent: What does it mean?
In our last edition, Eddie Cetin explained how to mine the gold in your database through
targeted email marketing. This issue he reveals how you can rapidly grow a healthy
database with little effort while positioning yourself to win more listings.

I

’m hearing stories around
Australia about how
markets are tightening,
and it is certainly becoming
more challenging to keep
your numbers up. The
good news is that there
is now more help than ever to
enable you to be a gun at the
fundamentals of becoming a
high-performing agent.
The fundamentals are:
1. Capturing all enquiries
2. Engaging at open houses
3. Follow-ups
4. Vendor reporting
We all know that buyers are
sellers and sellers are buyers,
so how do we provide premium
service to both in the limited
time we have? Well, it all comes
down to streamlining your
processes and eliminating as
many time-wasting activities
as possible through technology.

ENQUIRIES
This is one area where you can
gain significant improvement
quite quickly. An efficient
open home starts by capturing
property enquiries throughout
the week. You can then use this
information to not only speed up
the data capture process while
at the open house but to provide
you with a better overview of
the clients who attend and the
clients who don’t.
Most CRMs will now accept
a direct feed of all buyer
and tenant enquiries from
realestate.com.au and domain.
com.au straight into the
database. This ensures that you
are not relying on any manual

36 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

entry from emails and links the
contact to the listing for your
buyer pipeline.
Make sure that all phone
enquiries are entered into a
simple central form in your CRM
and then distributed to agents
for follow-up. All these enquiries
would then flow into running an
efficient open for inspection.

OPEN HOMES
There is now a selection of mobile
solutions to run an efficient
open home. I admit it does take
a certain knack to engage with
people at the door while tapping
on a tablet or phone, but those
who make the effort do make

the most impact. It is increasingly
becoming the standard for an
agent to do so and prospective
sellers are taking note.
With all the enquiries streaming
in prior to the open, it is the
fastest way to capture details
and welcome attendees through
the door. As you start typing their
name or number their details
come up immediately.
Below are the key advantages
of using a digital open-forinspection process.
• Ability to send a quick SMS
immediately to everyone who
attends
• Record all feedback directly
into the CRM (no time

wasted later)
• Ability to send brochures and
contracts instantly from your
mobile device
• Send your vendor or landlord a
quick summary report instantly
Look for a CRM that gives
you live access to all aspects
of your database and also has
integration with popular apps,
such as Homepass and Inspect
Real Estate, which focus
on improving the customer
experience for you. The trend is
to move beyond old-school paper
at opens and deliver exceptional
service through mobile
technologies. This is the easiest
way to leave a good impression.

It comes down
to streamlining
your processes
and eliminating
as many
time-wasting
activities as
possible through
technology.

FOLLOW-UP
We all know that your success
boils down to the follow-up and
working your pipeline. The top
performers certainly put aside
time to reach out to every buyer
and potential vendor, making
detailed notes.
Some CRMs have a dedicated
screen tailor-made to running
an efficient calling session on
both a desktop and mobile
– worth checking out if you
haven’t seen the latest. That
being said, it can be just as
efficient to print out your
pipeline from the CRM with
history and notes, and conduct
your calls without technology
distractions. This is great to do
if you have admin support to
update the system afterwards.
VENDOR REPORTING
Providing regular updates to
your vendors is considered
by many experts to be
fundamental to delivering a
basic level of service. However,
it’s surprising how many agents
we meet every week who put
this in the too-hard basket.
Collating a comprehensive
report can take more than 30
minutes, sometimes an hour
to get something presentable
together. After performing
regular updates to the CRM as
outlined above you should be
able to generate an impressive

and informative vendor report
within five minutes.
Top tip: Some of our top
clients are actually using these
reports at listing presentations
as a ‘carrot’, showcasing their
service and the list of hot
buyers looking for a listing just
like theirs. The results and
feedback are remarkable.
Remember, open homes can
often be the first impression
you give potential new clients.
As the leading source of
potential vendors, open home
attendees could be buyers who
will sell after they purchase, or
a nosy neighbour researching
to sell their own home.
Running world-class open
homes can be key for an
attraction agent, as clients
will want you to run the same
quality for their own property.
Creating or refining habits
around technology that support
you in being more connected
and efficient can be the key to
achieving at least double your
results in this new financial year.

Eddie Cetin is the Founder of
Agentbox, the CRM of choice
for most high performing
agents around Australia.
To find out more about how
you can take advantage of the
new technologies mentioned
above, visit agentbox.com.au/
connectedagent.

g
n
i
k
a
h
S t up!
i
Tune into
Agent Republic
podcast

Agent Republic
eliteagent.com.au 37

Business
Depot
John Knight

7 things top principals are doing to
achieve great results
There are always standout real estate principals who are ‘smashing it’ in one way or
another, regardless of whether it is a tough market or not. John Knight pinpoints what
these top principals are doing that makes the difference in their business success.

I

f you are a business leader
or owner, clarity on what is
working is just as important
as knowing what is not
working. Challenge yourself
to better your business
every day and you will be
‘smashing it’ too.
These are some of the things
we see principals doing that are
achieving great results:

EQUAL IMPORTANCE GIVEN
TO RECRUITMENT AND
RETENTION
When the team is engaged,
business becomes so much
easier to manage.
Recruitment is important for
growth, but continually losing
employees out the back door
is a waste. Great real estate
principals invest in the team
and make a concerted effort to
ensure everyone is on the bus,
facing the front and knowing
where they are going.
FOCUS ON BEING A LEAN
MACHINE IN GOOD TIMES
AND TOUGH TIMES
Smart principals tighten their
belt in the good times so they
can be opportunistic in the
tough times. Running a lean
machine with a low breakeven
point – the difference between
your known fixed costs and
known fixed income – reduces
risk if the market turns, and
makes you more profit in the
good times. A continuous

38 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

improvement focus and a
culture that does not tolerate
waste is one way to do this.

and invest in non-technical
skills too, both their own and
their team’s.

NOT TOLERATING NONPERFORMANCE
Usually this starts with
everyone in the business
knowing what is considered
‘performance’ and how to
measure it. Great principals
don’t work on gut feel to

EXPLORE PARTNERSHIPS TO
GET INCREMENTAL PROFITS
More and more I am seeing
great results from introducing
employees into equity,
whether legal or notional, and
entering into new partnerships
that better target a segment

A culture of ‘no free rides’
means everyone pays their
way and reduces the financial
exposure of your business.
judge business performance –
they know their numbers and
know who is not performing.
This doesn’t mean they are
sacking everyone who doesn’t
reach budget; it means they
hold everyone accountable
and are always working on
raising the bar.

of their market or add a new
dynamic. The difference
between success and failure
with this, though, stems from
the transparency with which
they enter the partnership and
the clarity of the arrangement.
Shareholder or partnership
agreements are essential.

TRUE LEADERSHIP
Principals of great real estate
businesses understand and
appreciate the importance of
transparent, authentic and
consistent leadership. Leading
by example (whether they sell
or not) is a great start. They
don’t pretend to know it all,

EMPOWER THE INDIVIDUAL
AND MOTIVATE THE TEAM
Great real estate principals
have an uncanny ability to
balance the focus between
the individual and the team.
A great team wants the
business as a whole to succeed
as much, if not more, than

themselves as individuals.
This only happens when
there is a strong foundational
layer around the acceptable
behaviours of the office
and collaboration between
divisions is the norm.

VPA RECOVERED UPFRONT
I know I sound like a broken
record talking about the
importance of recovering VPA
upfront, but it is critical to
keep your business efficient –
especially if tougher times are
around the corner. A culture of
‘no free rides’ means everyone
pays their way and reduces
the financial exposure of your
business.
POD STRUCTURES
I still love what I call the
‘POD’-style structures, where
your top sales agents team up
with PAs or sales associates
(whatever you want to call
them) to improve leverage
and better deliver on your
customer needs. Think of it
as taking a smaller piece of a
much bigger pie by honing in
and matching roles with skills.
The lead agent gets leverage
and the associates or PAs
learn from the best.
John Knight is the Managing
Director of businessDEPOT,
a team of energetic
accountants and advisors.
Visit businessdepot.com.au.

Request your FREE copy of
Manos’ new book,

‘The 60 Second Entrepreneur’
Learn the surprising truth about how
to achieve success in real estate.

Australia’s most exciting real estate network

People
Partner
Alison McGavin

Lead from the top
Investing in training for all staff is vital – starting from the top. Alison McGavin explains
how principals need to show the way in their personal and professional development to
inspire growth in their team.

I

won’t be the first person
you have heard bang on
about how your staff are
your most valuable asset,
and I certainly won’t be
the last.
I also know that, as
real estate agents, you will
definitely understand when
I say that investing in your
most valuable asset is just
something that has to be done
to keep the asset growing and
therefore producing.
So what exactly does that
mean? In this context, I am
referring to training and
development.
In the wise words of

Brandon Travis Ciaccio, “The
pursuit of knowledge is neverending. The day you stop
seeking knowledge is the day
you stop growing.”
Both professional and
personal development is
something that needs to be a
priority, for yourself and for your
team. In fact, let’s take away
‘professional’ and ‘personal’
because, really, it’s one and
the same, isn’t it? More than
ever before, our personal and
professional lives have collided
and it is now just our world;
there is no definition. Whether
we are doing something for
the benefit of ourselves, or our

business, it’s going to benefit us
as a whole at the end of the day.
Maybe when you think of
training your team you’re
thinking of having to spend
an entire day away from the
office, locked inside a room,
listening to someone ramble
on and speak at you, not
telling you anything you didn’t
already know. No wonder it’s so
unappealing to some!
It doesn’t need to be like
that. In fact, it’s actually not
like that any more. Training
and development is now very
attainable, accessible and
worthwhile.
We have so many resources
at our fingertips. Think about
webinars, online training,
mentoring and coaching,
networking – even something
as small as signing up to one
of the many industry-related
social media groups, where you
can share ideas, brainstorm
and just connect with people in
the same industry. These are
all accessible and worthwhile
resources that are very timeeffective with maximum return.
In addition to these things
that you can be doing on a daily,
weekly or monthly basis as part
of your development routine,
there are amazing events such

When you are constantly growing and developing
your knowledge, you will be a better leader and
you will inspire others to improve.
40 ELITE AGENT • AUG-SEP 2016

as AREC and ARPM. Not only do
these sorts of events provide
a platform where you can be
inspired and empowered by
some of the thought leaders of
our industry, but you are given
the opportunity to connect with
a wide range of people. These
events are all about learning.
And you can learn something
from just about anyone.
The benefit to you and your
business will be phenomenal.
When you have a team that
is constantly growing their
knowledge and developing
themselves, you will have a
team who are genuinely all
about quality and improvement.
You need to lead from the
top. Be the change you wish to
see. When you are constantly
growing and developing your
knowledge, you will be a better
leader and you will inspire
others to improve.
Encourage people to attend
training events; people often
make the mistake of seeing
this as an expense. Rather,
look at the return that comes
with investing in your most
valuable asset.
I’ll finish with a quote by
Christopher Morley: “There
are three ingredients to the
good life: learning, earning and
yearning.” Learning will lead to
earning, which in turn will create
a yearning to learn more so you
can earn more! Happy learning!

Alison McGavin is a Senior
Recruitment Consultant with
Real+. For more information
visit realplus.com.au.

Health
Science
Emily Schofield

What’s on the menu?
Low energy? Fluctuating moods? Foggy head? Did you know that many of these
symptoms are a result of your lifestyle choices and behaviours? Emily Schofield explains
how these factors are things over which we have a lot of control.

M

any
successful
people are
advocates
of a healthy
lifestyle,
as they
have come to realise through
their own experience the
impact of good health on their
performance. Once the correct
habits are implemented,
positive change is usually quick
to follow. The relief from brain
fog, mood fluctuations and
constantly being tired after a
prolonged period of feeling this
way is a light at the end of the
tunnel for many.
Our food choices play a huge
part in our ability to be mentally
focused. The right choices
throughout the day will set
you up for success; the wrong
choices leave us feeling tired,
bloated and unmotivated.
Here are some ideas of what
you should be eating to keep
you performing optimally all
through the day.

BREAKFAST
This should consist of
protein and fats. Choices
like meats, nuts, eggs and
green vegetables cooked with
coconut oil or grass-fed organic
butter are your best options.
These food choices raise the
neurotransmitters responsible
for mental focus and attention
span and are best first thing in
the morning. I have had many
clients say they experience
much more mental clarity by
following this breakfast.

MEALS BETWEEN
These meals also consist of
foods containing protein and
fats. This warrants steady
blood sugar which results in
minimal fluctuations in mood
and energy, helping avoiding the
‘3pm crash’. They could include
foods such as salads, nuts,
seeds, uncooked olive oil, fatty
meats or fish, avocado and lowstarch vegetables.
SNACKS
Here are some of my go-to snack
ideas: Tuna packed in olive oil,
sardines, berries, olives, halloumi
cheese, celery with the hollow
portion filled with a nut butter
or goat’s cheese, protein powder
(providing it is good quality with
minimal sweeteners).
DINNER
This meal should include
foods that contain protein and
carbohydrates. Our bodies are
more sensitive to insulin in
the evening, meaning carbs
consumed in the evening are
less likely to be stored as fat.

Our food
choices play a
huge part in
our ability to
be mentally
focused.
Carbohydrates also raise the
neurotransmitters responsible
for sleep and are therefore ideal
in the evening. This meal should
include a whiter protein choice
for easier digestion, such as
chicken, turkey or white fish.
The carbohydrate source should
come from starchy vegetables
like sweet potato or beans.
Brown rice is another good
choice for the evening.

KEEPING ACTIVE
Once food has been optimised,
the other important factor to
improving our performance is

exercise. Exercise makes us
energised, keeps us in shape and
helps our body deal with stress.
Exercise improves our quality
of sleep and reduces the time it
takes for us to fall asleep. When
we sleep better, we are more
productive because we get more
done when we are fresh.
Exercise has a positive influence
on brain health; it has been shown
to boost certain hormones and
proteins that act in the part of the
brain responsible for learning and
memory. Numerous studies show
that exercise is protective against
the negative physiological effects
of high stress.
Energy is the trump card to
success. When we fuel our
body with the appropriate
nutrients and keep it strong and
functioning optimally, it becomes
easier to express your passion
and commitment for your work
or other aspects of life.
I really enjoy working with
clients and being able to have
such a huge impact on their
performance and how they
feel. You may have the best
intentions when it comes to
your work life, but if you don’t
have your health, chances are
you won’t be performing as
optimally as you could be.

Emily Schofield is an Exercise
Scientist, having completed
a Bachelor’s degree in Sport
and Exercise Science. She is
a Personal Trainer at Vision
Personal Training, North
Sydney. For more information
visit visionpt.com.au/studios/
north-sydney.

eliteagent.com.au 41

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FOR
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NETWORK

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Clarke &
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Humel

with Stuart Benson

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Every picture
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ENGAGEMENT